First all-electric Nissan Leafs arrive in Kitsap

Bonnie Albin-Fraik of Bainbridge Island looks at her new Nissan Leaf electric car at Advantage Nissan on Wednesday. Albin-Fraik and her husband, Robert Fraik, got one of the first two Leafs delivered to Kitsap County.
(LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)

Larry Steagall

Bonnie Albin-Fraik, right, of Bainbridge Island gets tips from Chuck Capps of Advantage Nissan on how to operate her new Nissan Leaf. Albin-Fraik and her husband, Robert Fraik, got one of the first two Leafs delivered to Kitsap County.
(LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)

BREMERTON - Two hours ahead of the devastating March 11 earthquake that rocked northern Japan, a cargo ship carrying 600 fully electric Nissan Leafs left port, two of them bound for Bremerton.

Both hatchbacks arrived Wednesday morning at Advantage Nissan, parked side-by-side near the dealership's charging stations and awaiting their new owners.

Bainbridge Island car aficionado Robert Fraik — whose grandfather designed the iconic Checker taxi cabs — and wife Bonnie Albin-Fraik took home the blue Leaf, the fourth electric car in their 12-car collection.

Kingston's Paul Lundy and wife Lisa Knox drove off in a black Leaf, which now shares a two-car garage with a 1938 truck.

After a test drive, the couple announced they'd be relegating their gas-electric Toyota Prius to the driveway.

"My gut feeling is, the Prius is going to be kind of lonely," Lundy said.

Heralded as the first affordable production vehicle to run exclusively on electricity, Wednesday's arrivals are the first Nissan Leafs to whiz around Kitsap County. About a dozen were sold in the Seattle area last month, Capps said.

On a full battery, the Leaf can go as fast as 90 mph and travel as far as 100 miles.

Both couples paid $99 to get on a waiting list last April. That list at Advantage Nissan has since grown from seven Leaf hopefuls to 66, said Chuck Capps, business development manager there.

Capps said he expects to have the Leaf in-stock for retail sales by late 2013.

Puget Sound is one of five test markets to get the compact, four-door vehicle that seats five. The first Leaf shipment is expected to number around 1,000 cars, and 20 times that number are being deployed across the country, Capps said.

Leafs start at $32,780, though the sticker price for both of Kitsap's newest arrivals was $34,710. Both are higher-trim models that come with a spoiler and a solar panel to help power the radio, heat and air conditioning.

Electric vehicles are exempt from the state's sales tax, and those who purchase them are eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit.

All Leafs are equipped with navigation systems, which can locate charging stations and identify whether they're in use. Owners can even sync their vehicles with a smartphone, heating or cooling the cars as they charge.

Three lights on the dashboard begin glowing when a Leaf is being charged. Owners can plug their cars into standard 110-volt outlets or into 220-volt charging systems produced by San Francisco-based company ECOtality.

Both couples received the enhanced charging system, free of charge, by signing up for a study that surveys their driving habits.

A single charge on the 220-volt ECOtality system takes a few hours, or longer with a standard outlet. A 440-volt system available at recharging stations can power a battery to 80 percent capacity in about a half-hour, Capps said.

He expects them to start popping up at places like Starbucks, Best Buy and Costco in the coming years. At least 2,200 stations will be available for use in the Puget Sound area, thanks to a $99.8 million stimulus grant from the Department of Energy.

Conventional wisdom says electric or fuel-efficient cars lack in the 'giddy-up' department. Not with the Leaf, says Fraik.

Fuel-burning cars don't achieve maximum torque until a high RPM is reached, "which is why you have guys revving their motors at the stop light," he said.

"With these cars, you don't have to. The second you hit the accelerator, the motor has 100 percent of its power available."

According to Adam Green, the dealership's electric vehicle specialist who happened to be wearing a green jacket Wednesday — his favorite color — the only fluid Leafs require is coolant to keep the battery from overheating. Leafs don't have transmissions because the motor spins either forward or backward at varying speeds. And there's no need for belts or motor oil, either.

"It's not a go-kart on steroids. It is a real car," Capps said. "If you want to burn the tires off, you can do it."

Both Lundy and Fraik cite environmental factors and reducing America's reliance on foreign oil when explaining why they ponied up for their new all-electric cars.

Albin-Fraik, a stay-at-home mom, said she'll use her new Leaf for everyday errands and taxiing her 7-year-old daughter around town.

Fraik, who stands six feet four inches tall, says he has no problem getting into a Leaf — not so much the case with a popular gas-electric hybrid.

"I'm a little tight in the Prius," said Fraik, a former software engineer who's built his own all-electric prototype. "Or as we like to call it, a Pious."